Although the British raids have left Washington a devastated, blackened city, the battered Constitution has held and the presidency has survived! But the struggling government has no home. The British saw to that. Gone is the Capitol, her magnificent library, and the chambers of the Congress and the Supreme Court. Gone also is the President’s House, and every relic and document not secreted out of the city. Next on the list of British prizes—the rebellious port city of Baltimore! A victory here would assure the Americans’ capitulation, but a loss would dilute the importance of the destruction of Washington.
But has the raid on Washington stiffened the backs of the Americans? This is the question gnawing at the leaders of both armies as the toll of the war mounts on both sides (Publisher website)